Giving

By Bill Clinton

Clinton describes, how now that he has time, his world experiences in giving as a private person. He describes many NGO’s fund raising and giving processes. He describes giving of money, time, ideas, as well as different models of giving. He claims there are three trends leading to an increase in giving, the Internet, charitable giving, democracy, the third of which speaks to the ultimate price we have paid for a free and democratic Iraq. He didn’t say that in print, but I read it in the white space between the lines. While he described a stereo-typical agenda of a republican what you really come to appreciate is the non partisan tone in his overall message, a message to take note of. I also took note of his portrayal of a healthy and flourishing economy American economy under G. W. Bush (in print); a far cry from his party dogma, especially his wife. (“this administration…”)

While inspiring, the book takes on the persona of a Clinton rant, much like the one America endured in his farewell address. And to be kind it is much like Walt Whitman. I could hear his voice in my head and actually not only enjoyed it, but also came to grips with why so many folks like him. It is a rant because of the endless list of NGOs accompanied by their short dossier. The book engages the reader to begin shopping where he can plug in. I found one worth exploring called YAL. Young Arab Leaders is commissioned to making opportunity available to young Arabs. Their goal is to out-recruit bin-Laden. Another NGO of interest to me is called Seeds for Peace, which is centered on reconciliation. There is another NGO called HOPE here in Cincinnati focused on reaching out to our neighbors in South America. I was a little curious why the two organizations I am keen in Big Brother and Boy Scouts were over looked.

Where Clinton grabbed my respect was in his personal involvement in an Arkansas foundation. THEA founded by Clinton’s friends is a NGO for the promotion of Art where Clinton is a prime contributor and when you add up the numbers, they are significant. I most appreciate the discrete portrayal of his financial role. In his role in the tsunami and Katrina relief efforts I need to quote Clinton to be sure I get it right about the non partisan nature of giving: “The Efforts George Bush and I made to help people begin again benefited us more than those who received the funds. It also gave us the opportunity to rebuild a friendship that began almost twenty-five years ago, when he was vice president and I was a young governor. We’ve had a lot of fun traveling the United States and the world. Although we still have our political differences, we can laugh about them, even when arguing…”

When it came to the environment, a topic that requires non-partisan participation, Clinton began with a few alligator tears about how he could not get much past Congress in 1993. He ran into Newt Gingrich at the time. But then he quickly and gracefully moved on to admit that timing was just not there. He then described how now an organized marketplace and numerous NGOs has proven far more effective with far more potential than his plan. He specifically describes an organized marketplace whereby consumers purchase only goods that conform to the betterment of our world as a method of giving. He praised Al Gore for his Inconvenient Truth book/movie, aimed at fifth graders in my opinion; he did not recognize his old foe Newt Gingrich. Oddly enough the next book on my reading list is Contract With the Environment by New Gingrich speaking on the marketplace’s organization to cleaning up the environment. When Gingrich was asked if he was running for president he said, “no because like Gore I cannot accomplish what needs to be accomplished for the good of America with partisan politics in the way.” It is my hope Clinton reads Gingrich’s book and recognizes that you have to put the sword back in the stone for good to be 100% genuine. His campaign activity in support of his wife says he cannot do that, which is a shame.

In any case I highly recommend this book to all walks of life it is an inspiring prescription to a world of giving, which translates to a world of peace.

The Covenant

The Covenant

In summary, to characterize this book, the reader will find a collection of essays by various authors. Hence the title Covenant. The narrative of each essay carries a noticeable collection of data points that are on many occasions not wholly relevant to the theme or case being made. In many cases the facts are not related to each other. And often times the statistical argument finds narrow groups of data conveniently merged with wider groups of data that is marginally related, only to exacerbate or distort the case being made. The second trait found in the book is that while almost every essay finds a solution in the NPO sector, the essay’s author leans hard into and demands for government action. And finally hiding behind these two flaws is too often the truth. That truth beholds the differences and the disparity across color in our society and most importantly the sameness. Unfortunately that truth does not come out in this book. When a Covenant is made with we the people, regardless of race, the solution will not have to be solved. We will awaken to it.

The structure of each essay is the same. Each chapter begins with an introduction on the theme, from urban renewal to rural roots and all points in between. Each essay then follows with a fact check and a section on what works. In every chapter Non Profit Organizations are at the center of what works. Unfortunately this section is always the thinnest section with the smallest voice. There are many examples of cooperatives and institutions dedicated to the improvement of Black America. When I got to the Rural Root section what was described was a fate that crossed the color barrier. Yet the organizations were for African Americans. I asked myself if a white person could and seek the benefit of the institution. Or would there exist an institutional barrier of discrimination within that organization? And would there be a loud cry in lame stream media and white pundits playing a race card.?

While many of the essays, have an overtone of militant demands to fix a society that has wronged them, the most militant chapter in the book is accessing Good Jobs, Wealth, and Economic Prosperity. It is all about entitlements and speaks directly to the Democrat Party platforms which happen to be at the root of our economic collapse; Bill Clinton’s Affordable Housing Act. We are not a country of a government brought here to serve the people. We are a government of the people and by the people. Alexander de Tocqueville, French political thinker of the the mid 19th century, said it best about America’s values. We are a people of great society, in the vision of our Founding Fathers. Not the vision of Lyndon B. Johnson. It is through the philanthropy of the American people that makes this country great. I do not mean the philanthropy characterized in the movie The Help. In doing extensive work with the American Red Cross, I know first hand about philanthropy. I know the feeling you get when you make eye contact with the person you are giving to. I also appreciate that on average seventy-five to ninety-two percent of the dollars donated to NPO’s go towards the cause, as opposed to the seven to twenty percent performance found in our government. Philanthropy is the number two industry in America. Few people know this. The Catholic Church is the number two non-profit in the United States. Fewer people know this. Bill Clinton is very involved in non-profit work and has done infinitely more for man-kind since he left the office of President of the United States than all of his public offices put together. Read his book Giving. And then think this Covenant thing through again.

This book has it wrong. The essay themes are worth a real good look. While I struggled with almost every statistical argument, the theme was worth a look. And I am sure where there is smoke there is fire. But when the solution is laced with a black-v-white narrative, there can be no solution. I draw from the movie V for Vendetta for a closing analogy. I propose that ‘We’ remove the vendetta. Round out the sharp corner at the bottom of the V. Render that ‘V’ a ‘U’ for Unity. I propose these authors make that paradigm shift and re-write this book.

Below is my interactive dialogue with the authors of each essay.

Securing the Right to Healthcare (Clearly the Obamacare agenda)

Page 12: The author advocates a check list of things the individual can do to live a healthy life. Most of all "hold all leaders and officials responsible and demand that they change current policy.

My comment: First the last item is incoherent and inconsistent with the rest of the list. It is a militant demand on those not responsible for healthy living habits.

Page 13: Myser Keels, a leader of and spokesperson for The Affordable Housing Coalition, which includes churches and community groups, said,”We've been waiting too long to get the city to bring in a big store, ... The coalition ... Demanded that the Fresno City council set aside money for it's $11 million Community Development Block Grant to build a shopping center in their community,"

My comment: Couldn't a business case with Kroger have been a more streamline approach? The author does not explore this possibility.

Page 14: Over 50% of the children [in Fayette County Public Schools are on free or reduced plan at 21 of the districts schools.

My comment: While I marvel at the staggering number on the dole, I also look at yet another misuse of statistical picture painting. An early trend set in this book. They start with black and then say persons of color which would then include Latinos and Asians. To further impede my acquiescence to the case made in this essay, I hold out the Travon Martain case, where the media and Black Figureheads (Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton) actually call the shooter a “white Latino.” A person loses his sense of empathy when there is a strong tendency to skew the facts.

Page 15: The Bucket Brigade story that tells of a community banning together with the assistance of a NPO to prove the local manufacturers polluted their air. It resulted in government action against polluters in industry. This is clearly a case where the Black Community where clearly victims.

My comment: I feel for their suffering and stand behind the call for corrective action. However there is one thing I find in corporate America and that is they are not colored blind. They do not prejudice against blacks, or anyone else. They only prejudice for green…money.

Page 18: To aid in preventing these diseases, city planners must improve the design and construction standards in new public and state-assisted housing to improve ventilation and reduce the likelihood of mold problems.

My comment: I agree, but do not see it as solely a black problem.

Page 19: [the medical field] broader train healthcare professionals to treat patients from different backgrounds.

My comment: I am white my doctor is Indian, and I prefer Indian doctors. They have no issues in communication with me. Oddly enough Indians, do not have white skin. Why would there be an issue with black Americans and white doctors ... Or Indian doctors? If this unsubstantiated rationale prevailed, then it would be a building block for the next argument to make special provisions for more black doctors.

Establishing a System of Public Education

Page 30: A national effort at affirmative development to complement continuing efforts at affirmative action should be much broader than the initiatives directed at improving the effectiveness of education....We propose to embark upon a deliberate effort to develop academic abilities in a broad range of students who have a history of being resourced deprived and who as a consequence are under represented in the pool of academically high achieving students.

My comment: The prelude to this paragraph presents a hodge-podge of inconsistent stats. It starts with stats on blacks and adds them to people of color to exaggerate the problem statement as it the presents nothing more than broader and deeper affirmative action. I feel there may be validity in the problem statement, but the prelude diminishes the credibility. Following the actions taken by Condoleezza Rice as Provost of Stanford I therefore would have hoped for a solution that was more organically borne from within the black community.


Page 35: The Harlem Children’s Zone is one of the largest community based programs devoted to learning in and out of school.

My comment: This is a NPO program that serves 70,000 kinds I. Harlem. It comes under the section titled what is working. Yet the author on page 39 reverts back to advocating federal government spending and provisioning of early childhood schools.

Page 39: In order to level the playing field from day one, early childhood development must be a basic right of all children, just as elementary, junior, and high schools are.

My comment: First, it is not a basic right fir anyone to get an education. There is a mandate to be educated. Second, the States educate their children, not the Federal Government.

Page 40: It is unacceptable for children to be left behind academically; we must find and offer whatever resources are needed to help them learn and progress on par with children their age

My comment: Much is said by our educators about GW Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. What the schools did to the children is teach to a standard. That simple standard is "par". Bush left it to the schools to "find whatever resources.” To meet that goal. Unfortunately I feel the administrations forced a focus on the testing and lost site of the teaching. Apparently unless mandated the education administrators cannot chart their own course to other resources. I don’t fault the teachers…I take direct aim on the administrators.

Correcting the System of Unequal Justice

Page 62: Laws such as "Three Strikes" lead to individuals serving a life sentence if convicted of theft for sterling a slice of pizza. ... If a criminal law is to be effective, the punishment must fit the crime

My comment: I'll be sure to recheck where that is included in our Bill of Rights.

Page 64: it is equally important for the government to fund projects that reach put to youth before they are incarcerated including after school programs, organized mentoring opportunities, and initiatives that provide juveniles in inner cities a with esteem building skills and alternatives to criminal activity.

My comment: If the Harlem Project previously mentioned is so successful shouldn't we model after that before we seek government funding? While I agree, that inner city people need help, why when NPO’s are much more efficient would te author of this essay not reach in that direction instead? What can be done to turn up the volume on NPO engagement?

Page 66: If we encourage and help children in our families and neighborhoods to do well in school, participate in safe engage able activities, and if we hold our elected officials responsible for the rehabilitation and successful re-entry of all ex felons back into our
communities, then we can start to correct the system of unequal justice.

My comment: While generally agreeing with the goals, I find on many levels contradiction in the definition of the problem, specifically as it proposed the solution. It seems that counting on community NPO's for prevention and then falling back on the government for re-entry as a spending that policy that not only is a day late and a dollar short, but in practice in order to get government help, you must first commit a crime of which therefore Entitles you to government funds.

Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods

Page 101: in the United States, where you live literally determines access to opportunity. Your address dictates whether you will have access to good schools and jobs, grocery stores, parks and other neighborhood communities. The availability of affordable housing in neighborhoods of rich opportunity, therefore, has become the next
battle ground in the fight for black people to fully participate and thrive.

My comment: Where was the battle cry for the white folks living in rural back waters fro the beginning of out nation and thru to today? I have to throw that up for question against the canvas for which the comment was made. That canvass painted the picture of the vacuum left behind by urban sprawl and cities in decline. While I appreciate the problem, this is not a 'black' issue alone. This is a problem equally contributed to by all people and until words like battleground are removed from the dialogue, no solution is at hand. These contributing essay authors draw too close a parallel line to the Israeli-
Palestinian divide.

Page 101: Equally important is access to public transit. Proportionately black people are less likely to own cars and much more dependent on public transit than whites. Plus because so many new jobs are on suburban communities, black people must rely on public transit to get to these jobs. Fair and equitable transportation strategies could effectively link African Americans to opportunity throughout the region. But most transpiration spending goes to support continued sprawl by building more and more highways, not increasing public transit such bas buses, light rail, and subways.

My comment: While I agree in principle this is not a black-white issue and the solution is two fold. First is make the city core vibrant again Mike Illich in Detroit is doing a lot in that effort. Second public transportation would reduce America's dependency on foreign oil. Urban renewal would change the strategy for a public transit system and the Illich strategy should be expanded upon by more enterprising people. What stops them? Here is a clue: I was at an inner city street fair in Cincinnati. It was in a black district
called Over the Rhine. I said to one of the venders “this goes a long way towards urban renewal.". He said “I have been coming here for the last ten years and it's a losing proposition every year". He went on to say of his merchandise, all my profit is stolen right under his nose." Until blacks address the "white flight" syndrome, there is no policy change that will turn the quality of life for blacks around.

Page 108: Public transit is often an under utilized asset in African American communities and low-income communities. By tying housing and other community services, it can link up opportunity and increase mobility.

My comment: This contradicts every thing else written in this book on public transportation. Everywhere else it is written that we need to invest in to public transport because the black community is so far under served. Now here the slippery slope begins in a dialogue on linking the train station to other community services. Regardless of the contradiction the slippery slope is not stepped upon because the whole project Bethel New Life is a private faith based organization.

Page 112: land use laws that require large lot sizes, or large square foot single-family houses drive up the cost, raising the bar too high for low-cost multi family developments.

States can enact fare-share housing policies that require every jurisdiction to plan for and build a portion of their housing to serve low- and modest income families.

My comment: I think it is appropriate for every jurisdiction to zone for housing of a blended variety. A blended community makes for a strong community. However, we need to leave it to private industry and non-profit works to build the housing. The State usually does a poor job at this and the result is an entitled neighborhood prone for crime. Entitled people don't seek work. Idle time is the devils work shop.


Page 114: Owning homes is how most Americans build wealth... Local, state, and federal leaders can systematically increase ownership for African Americans by creating housing capital pools that affirmatively market to underrepresented communities that offer mortgage subsidy, down payment assistance and credit counseling.

My comment: This comes under the heading called Affordable Housing Act. The most destructive act Bill Clinton passed. While well intended, like Bush's No Child Left Behind, the AHA is the card that caused the collapse of cards in 2008. Freddie, Fannie, and Barney forced high risk balloon loans. This hyped the real estate markets. At the time as a Series 6 & 7 Financial Adviser I was doing what was essentially pro-Bono work for financially stressed low income families. Here is what I dealt with. The pitch by realtors was “don't worry about the balloon, the prices are going up so fast, you'll be flipping this house for a larger one before it comes due. You can use the profit on the next one to purchase a conventional mortgage.” And the banks were all too ready to lend the savings for a short term reduced mortgage payment rate to lend them money to buy a new boat at higher interest rates. Based on that ‘card’, Wall Street turned a blind eye to the people's business acumen to execute on that plan. Then this group of entire people, unqualified under previous standards, went out and bought new cars and boats and they ran up credit cards. Then they defaulted leaving the leveraged paper on Wall Street worthless. So I call this entitlement plan a bad plan. What was thought good for to poor an middle class was actually devastating to the whole world. And folks the majority of the people I was doing work for were white.

Page 118: The historic West Oakland African Community paired non profit developers and low-income housing tax credit to build hundreds of new apartments and affordable condominiums near the light rail station that is one stop from downtown San Francisco.

My comment: The one good remedy using the existing system to bring about positive change in this chapter called Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods.

Claiming Our Democracy (I must remind the reader that we are a Republic)

Page 133: Less than two weeks before Election Day 2005, a court decision was up held that blocked a controversial state law from taking effect that would have dramatically restricted the types of photo identification that may be used when voting. Thus African Americans were allowed to vote with a range of IDs.

My comment: Why can't we go a step further? Let's utilize the State's DMV branches to issue Voter ID cards to those who do not drive, but wish to vote. Therefore the State is doing the auditing of the person's ID.

Accessing Good Jobs, Wealth and Economic Prosperity

Page 165: as painful images of Hurricane Katrina have revealed, there remains a significant wealth gap between blacks and whites in this nation - one that must be closed if America is to thrive in the 21st century.

My comment: While Katrina exposed what is wrong in New Orleans, it was flooding, poor engineering, and incompetent government at city and State level. And yes there is a wealth gap. But I propose the author of this essay read both the Virtue of Prosperity and the Israel Test. I must challenge this notion that Barak Obama has not divided America with his rhetoric of rich –v-poor and then separately he inserts himself into local black white issues as he did in Boston. The Obama and company conveniently reach back to the paradigm of the 60s and 70s and wrongly connect it to black white issues of 50 years later. First there is nothing wrong with the gap. There will always be a gap. The gap is not caused solely by corrupt collusion of rich white people. Since there are rich black people one cannot even say it is a color gap.

Page 167: After the last recession, when white families saw there wealth grow slowly black families lost a fourth of theirs. When white families rode out the bumps in the stock market, black families saw their stock and mutual funds decline by an astounding two-thirds.

My comment: REALLY?!!!!! This author is basing his argument on a stock market conspiracy?!!!! The rising and lowering tide of the stock market adjusts the level of all boats mutually. The solution is not found in Obama's agenda. Nor is the solution based on the word 'fair' being shouted out by the Occupy Wall Street protests

Page 171: African Americans are 3.6 times more likely as whites to receive a home purchase loan from a sub-prime lender and 4.1 times as likely as whites to receive a refinance loan from sub-prime lenders. Sub-prime lending is usually one to six points over prime rate and is reserved for lending businesses that do not qualify for 'prime rates'.

My comment: The last sentence is exactly the deal Clinton cut with the banks when he passed the Affordable Housing Act. He forced banks to qualify what people who, by convention numbers practice, much like how Morningstar rates countries credit rating, for mortgages. The banks were allowed to offset the high risk that comes with unqualified lending with points to cover the risk. Those points were paid by the people that can't afford it. Jimmy Carter passed a similar law with regard to pensions. Obama's legacy is the infamous Obamacare. All three are Democrats. This agenda is prone to passing dramatic law aimed at social equality with its implementation left to Administrative Law. We saw what Freddie and Fannie can do. We are already feeling the negative impact of Obamacare in its nascent stages. Jimmy Carter's 401k plan is about to rear it's ugly head. All three programs force a program on a society that was not prepared for the change.

Page 173: [the whole Farrah Grey story is the one path to social equality]. He took no hand-outs; he was at the same time entrepreneurial and philanthropic. He was a good steward if money. And what went around came around.]

Page 177: The homeownership gap can be closed by lowering down payment requirements and making mortgages more available and affordable to all. Government officials must strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, 1977, Jimmy Carter), a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination by banks against low-and moderate neighborhoods.

My comment: see my comment to page 171 above.

Closing the Racial Digital Divide

Page 216: So how in the span of 30 years, did the United States go from being an unchallenged technology leader to a nation falling behind in innovation. And second what does that mean for African Americans?

One explanation seems obvious. Many business leaders have under estimated the impact that personal computers would have in the hands of millions and the speed of change to follow.

My comment: The theme of this chapter is giving the Black Community more access to PCs and the Internet. While I like the idea and am inspired to open an Internet Cafe in the Over the Rhine Neighborhood in Cincinnati, I would do it to study what fruit unstructured Internet and usage would bear. I say that because of the myth the author creates that China and India are passing us up. What the author fails to point out is India and China are faced with a higher poverty gap who don't have PCs either. If indeed they even are out innovating the United States, which is debatable, access to PCs is an irrational leap in cause and effect analysis.

Cryptonomicon

By Neal Stephenson

Cryptonomicon is a book about patterns, numbers, and patterns in society.  It is a macho laced adventure that takes place on two parallel time continuum involving characters of two generations of family.  Mixed in this is a moral message.  The whole book is a metaphor on how cryptic this moral message is. It’s the unfolding of character traits with the suggestion that through all of the history of mankind, there is a thread that can be pulled through to our origins, God.  The message is cryptic and the reader only needs to tune in to it.  Essentially the center theme, stated through the character Avi a Jew, is to redirect the energy put in to war driven greed towards good.  Now that sounds real sappy.  So Stephenson as opposed to a Marvel Action comic book, presents an intellectual action thriller.

One comes to appreciate in the first story thread that takes place during WWII how much value should be placed on intelligence.  Knowing what the Germans or Japanese were going to do was essential to being ready for their attacks. We woke up to this reality on December 7, 1941.  The prime characters in this thread are the intellectuals that decrypt coded messages.  Mixed in with the character set is one action hero that stands apart.  Amazing how need to survive catapults technology.  There is little moral message in this thread.  Some of the characters are fictional, and some are genuine as in Alan Turing.  Turning and Waterhouse, college buddies combine their efforts to give birth to what has grown up to be artificial intelligence.  Yeap computer punch cards, with patterned punches decrypted enemy messages.  At that time, and I believe it is still mostly true today that artificial intelligence still requires a human to input the original algorithm.  I say this because the reader will find in this book the answer to that question through school: “why do I need to learn math”?

On the other time continuum the second generation comes in the form of hi-tech adventure capitalists stumbling into the opportunity to recoup enough war gold to realize the kernel of capital to eliminating the greed/power seeds of war.  The reader becomes aware of the fundamentals of an economy and therefore appreciates that any economy must be underwritten with the ability to pay on a promissory note, no matter what technology, that being a coin, a piece of paper, or a digital bitcoin.  Yeap the book gives legitimacy to the reality of a totally digital currency.   

Moral Message:  First you encounter these words that draw on the gods of the Greek that go back to origin, it speaks to patterns of thinking that transcends time:  From the book:  "“If you think of the Greek gods as real supernatural beings who lived on Mount Olympus, no. But if you think of them as being in the same class of entities as the Root Rep, which is to say, patterns of neurological activity that the mind uses to represent things that it sees, or thinks it sees, in the outside world, then yes. Suddenly, Greek gods can be just as interesting and relevant as real people. Why? Because, in the same way as you might one day encounter another person with his own Root Rep so, if you were to have a conversation with an ancient Greek person, and he started talking about Zeus, you might—once you got over your initial feelings of superiority—discover that you had some mental representations inside your own mind that, though you didn’t name them Zeus and didn’t think of them as a big hairy thunderbolt-hurling son of a Titan, nonetheless had been generated as a result of interactions with entities in the outside world that are the same as the ones that cause the Zeus Representation to appear in the Greek’s mind. And here we could talk about the Plato’s Cave thing for a while—the Veg-O-Matic of metaphors—it slices! it dices!”"

So past events are tied to a future of world peace at the grace of super heroes who use brain and brawn to get you there.  But Stephenson gets you there with a moral message tied to Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  In the end there is much dialogue that begins with a Catholic priest and Randy Waterhouse a crypto-geek in a prison cell that carries on to an executive of a very powerful Japanese firm  who knows  where the war gold is: 

From the book: "“I came to the Church because of some words.”“Words?”“This is Jesus Christ who taketh away the sins of the world,” Goto Dengo says. “Enoch Root, no one knows the sins of the world better than me. I have swum in those sins, drowned in them, burned in them, dug in them. I was like a man swimming down a long cave filled with black cold water. Looking up, I saw a light above me, and swam towards it. I only wanted to find the surface, to breathe air again. Still immersed in the sins of the world, at least I could breathe. This is what I am now.”

Enoch Roots reply: “Jesus takes away the sins of the world, but the world remains: a physical reality on which we are doomed to live until death takes us away from it. You have confessed, and you have been forgiven, and so the greater part of your burden has been taken away by grace. But the gold is still there, in a hole in the ground. Did you think that the gold all turned into dirt when you swallowed the bread and the wine? That is not what we mean by transubstantiation.” Enoch Root turns his back and walks away, leaving Goto Dengo alone in the bright avenues of the city of the dead."   

The author’s moral message in my mind: it ain’t the Church that gets you there, but rather your own relationship with that energy that many refer to as God does.  In the mean time, try and do something good to improve the situation in our world.  Live by the grace of the sacrifice of Christ.

You may disagree with me…but only those who’ve completed the book need respond.

Get Us Out of Here

By Nicky Eltz

A little prelude first.  This book was recommended to me by an old school friend that needed facebook to reconnect.  She is a devout Catholic and very sincere in all her words and deeds.  As a news tag-line hype-line, the clairvoyant interviewed in this book says through her channels with the dead that when a charismatic wealthy person becomes a leader in the western world, it will mark the beginning of the second coming…the end.  This book and it’s review were both a challenge for me.

This book is essentially an interview of a mystic named Maria Simma.  Maria is a mystic, a product of Austrian mountain culture, and a devout Catholic.  Her life spanned through the 20th century and as such she witnessed radical changes in the Catholic Church going from Vatican I to Vatican II.  It is an event  where the consequence to  the unsuspecting eye, 98% of the world, and a very high percentage of Catholics goes unnoticed or under-appreciated; according to Maria. 
  

While the subject of the interview is Maria’s mysticism.  I’ll call it that to be clinical, however the subjects she speaks to will challenge the paradigm of most readers.  For Maria it is not about her mysticism as she see that as normal.  It’s a matter of her view on Catholicism.  In reading this book: If you are a Catholic, you will question just how good of a Catholic are you.  If you are not a Catholic and even worse one of those Catholic bashers, this book is good material to fodder your bashing cannon.  So be it.  But here is the deal, Maria communes with the dead…that’s right…those Poor Souls whose bodies have expired, yet they appear before her with a message and requests.  Who are we mere intellectuals, products or a Western education system that is hell bent and whiskey bound to keep God out of schools, prodigies of science, to question someone who has born witness…and brought results from an ‘experiment’ we have not prepared ourselves for and therefore not conducted?   I am just putting it out there.

The key word here is ‘appear’ before her.  Apparitions, perhaps you should Google it before you read more.  While you are at it, Google Marian Apparitions.  Or, if Catholicism challenges you, Google Macbeth Apparitions.  Was Shakespeare a goof?  We teach Shakespeare in public schools but not Christianity.  In any event the subject of apparitions is only the landscape that may challenge your constitution, the core of your belief system.  The message of the Poor Souls will challenge your ways and means, so much so that you will tend to discard the whole interview as fraud.  It’s easy to lean on science as your podium when you may be on the edge of the wrong side.  However careful you may be,  you may find ironically that science, the study of the unknown that requires faith to pursue its answers comes up empty handed.  So with that jab, one that is often self inflicted on us all, perhaps you would continue reading with an open and receptive mind.

A little on the message.  Maria sees these Poor Souls.  They converse.  A few tenants come out that challenged me.  There is a heaven, it’s a place.  There is a hell, it’s a place.  There is purgatory, it’s a place.  We live only one life…as a human being.  Every one of these tenants do not fit my paradigm.  That is until though I did not read anywhere in the interview were those places are or how they are defined I could still apply it to my belief system.  When I consider alter realities and multiple time continuums, subjects of science and science fiction, I allowed myself to read on.  The message through Maria is when we leave our present body, we will end up in one of these places.  The majority end up in Purgatory which most know as a weigh station en-route to heaven.  Poor Souls stuck in Purgatory come to Maria asking her to pray for them, as its these prayers that enable them to pass on to heaven.  So within this context, the interview offers ample dialogue on how we must pray for each other, both while alive and deceased.  

Maria discusses, as an intermediary of the Poor Souls, how we in our current lives may be carrying, be at the effect, of the sins of our fathers.  For me there is much more to this than just prayer obligations.  It is not expounded on in the book and so I am not prone to place blame on Maria, but rather the interviewer Nicky Eltz.  Praying for each other suggests there is a holy spirit founded in the concept that we are all ONE through all of time.  This is my paradigm and it allowed me to read on.  Though again if we are all one and come together through prayer, I have a major challenge at least to Eltz.  Missing is the chapter on love, Christ’s prime message.

Instead the interview captures all the doctrine and dogma of the Catholic Church.  Here, you as a Catholic discover the gaps in your life style.  As a non Catholic you say SEEEE!  But to all, the Catholic doctrine and dogma prescribes a ways and means that elevates one’s conscious towards God and Jesus Christ’s message..still alive and well 2000 years later.  Essentially you approach life with a sense of humbleness, and grace.  You go through life with a sense of reverence towards the grace of God who provides just the right dose of reward for your ways and means.  If you are lost on the right dose, attend a Catholic Mass.  Done right, a criticism of the Poor Souls conveyed through Maria, one comes away with a deep appreciation of the consecration of the host…the body of Christ. 

We all have heard or used the phrase about friends coming to dinner over dinner; “breaking bread”.  It’s where we kiss and make up.  So pause and mediate on the Last Supper where Christ says.  “Take ye and eat ye all of this For This Is My Body.  Do this in remembrance of me.”   His message.

I’ll leave you with this, expressed in scientific terms,  to ponder on:  If apparitions are real as witnessed by so many people over time, then could you hypotheses as Catholics do, that Christ truly exists in that consecrated host.  If so, you come to appreciate the reverence that is due in the way you live your life.

I Am Red

My Name Is Red

By Orphan Pamuk

This book is about 14^th century art in Istanbul.  It is a murder mystery that blends the life stories of miniaturist … artist that created the beautiful artwork and gold leaf edging in books of that era.  Today’s miniaturist is better known as an illustrator of books.  The author takes a unique approach in beginning a chapter with a title “I am”.  Then each chapter is told in the voice of the name of what would follow “I am”; a first person story told by many different first persons.  The name is not necessarily a person.  It could be an object like a coin that would then set the setting for the commerce that crosses both Venetian or Ottoman, Christian or Muslim, of that era. There are love dramas, conspiracies, Greek tragedies, (so apropos a term for a setting in Istanbul), and a lot of art history in novel form.  Any reader would be intrigued enough to start fact checking and eventually planning a trip to Istanbul to discover firsthand the art of an era so over looked by us Westerners.

The murder and conspiracy spins around a real plot on a person’s conceit.  Imagine a person of wealth having his portrait painted and hung on the walls of his palazzo.   Take it a step further and imagine a famous scene, say a battle, and that a Doge would have himself painted in to the scene, though having not been there.   It would be a false rendering of the story. And then imagine the concern of the miniaturists who see the betrayal of truth and Allah himself.  Remember in the 1500’s there were no other material media for stories to get told in color.  You then begin to appreciate how grave the crime might be.  Of course Hollywood does this all the time, so one must question the sliding scale of the virtue of man.  And then weigh in on the moral consequences in what may be a justified murder.  Or was it just for the money after all?

As the murder plot thickens, the reader is rendered as the sleuth to figure out who the murderer is.  The information is presented in first person of the prime character of any chapter.  And the detectives are describing drawing styles of art that could be linked to one miniaturist or another.  The reader cannot help but learn to become an art critic.  The author, like in the book, sneaks up on you with art education while distracting you with a multi faced plot.  

The 14^th century Muslim art critic’s primary objection was in defense of Allah.  It was not the goal to paint a scene objectively, but rather the painting should be rendered as though seen through the eyes of Allah.  As the plot unfolds the objection unravels.  To determine the author you had to examine all the artists for style.  Style was at that time in the Ottoman Empire dictated by the masters of any given schools. Somehow a master artist would at the end of his career go blind from so much dedication to Allah’s work and he could still somehow  be able to instruct his students.  It  was an achievement to go blind.  Somehow the actors in the drama fail to see that Allah is really the master artist forcing his style on his students. 

The real tragedy is the suspect artists feud with each other as they witness art from the Venetians who capture scenes objectively.  Their feud is fueled with the competition of who would succeed their murdered master.  Poor Black who is strapped with the job to figure out who done it so that he may earn the love and hand of the dead master’s  daughter, finds himself being convinced, one by one by the arguments of each suspect.  Every argument brings two themes.  Fist is the sacrilege of their brethren actually painting with their own style.  And second is that unique style is exactly evidence found in the murder scene painting.

The book is clearly poetry in prose. It is word art.  It is a Walt Whitman rant style of poetry.  The only thing missing is the artwork.